The Violin
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.Braque meticulously reproduced a type of engraved-metal nameplate, with tiny screws at the edges, that had devolved into a trite vehicle for product branding. A typical example is seen in the lower right of the image reproduced here, featuring a painter-decorator marbling a wall, one of a series of collectible cards advertising Trébucien coffee and chocolate. Braque likely chose this popular signature device over more rarified forms to chafe at the professional hierarchies that separated artisanal painters from “fine” artists. The frankly fake nameplate nonetheless functions as a sign of genuine authorship. That the raised areas of paint, sawdust, and wood particles appear to be cut outs collaged onto the surface is pure trompe l’oeil.
Image caption: “Le peintre décorateur” (The painter-decorator). Card advertising Trébucien, “Chocolat des Gourmets,” ca. 1900. Chromolithograph. Mucem, Marseilles
Image caption: “Le peintre décorateur” (The painter-decorator). Card advertising Trébucien, “Chocolat des Gourmets,” ca. 1900. Chromolithograph. Mucem, Marseilles
Artwork Details
- Title: The Violin
- Artist: Georges Braque (French, Argenteuil 1882–1963 Paris)
- Date: 1914
- Medium: Oil, sawdust, and wood particles on canvas
- Dimensions: 36 1/4 × 23 5/8 in. (92.1 × 60 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Private collection
- Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Private Collection c/o Sotheby’s
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art